Showing results by narrator "Lauren Ezzo" in All Categories

The journey west by wagon train promises to be long and arduous for nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Graves and her parents and eight siblings. Yet she is hopeful about their new life in California: freedom from the demands of family, maybe some romance, better opportunities for all. But when winter comes early to the Sierra Nevada and their group gets a late start, the Graves family, traveling alongside the Donner and Reed parties, must endure one of the most harrowing and storied journeys in American history.

Marcos has just been through a divorce and moved into a new apartment. He feels alienated from his ex-wife, from his daughter, from society; everything feels flat and fake to him. He begins to receive letters at his new address from an anonymous troubled woman who signs off as "A." and who clearly believes she is writing to the former tenant, her ex-lover, in the aftermath of a violent heartbreak. Marcos falls under the spell of the manic, hypnotic missives, and for the first time in years, something moves him.

The fantastic has always been at the edges of Heather O’Neill’s work.In Daydreams of Angels, O’Neill’s first collection of short stories, she gives free rein to her imaginative gifts. In “Swan Lake for Beginners”, generations of Nureyev clones live out their lives in a grand Soviet experiment. In “The Holy Dove Parade”, a teenage cult follower writes a letter to explain the motivation behind her crime. And in another tale, a grandmother reveals where babies come from: the beach, where young mothers-to-be hunt for infants in the surf.

Immerse yourself in the "what if" questions related to the Lost Colony of Roanoke. What if an English boy and a native girl met in the wilderness? The push-and-pull between two very different worlds begins as one seeks simple friendship and the other struggles to trust. And can it—dare they allow it to—be more?

With her father in a German POW camp and her home in Ste Mere Eglise, France, under Nazi occupation, Rosalie Barrieau will do anything to keep her younger brother safe. . .even from his desire to join the French Resistance. Until she falls into the debt of a German solder—one who delivers a wounded British pilot to her door. Though not sure what to make of her German ally, Rosalie is thrust deep into the heart of the local underground. As tensions build toward the allied invasion of Normandy, she must decide how much she is willing to risk for freedom.

There’s a story behind every farewell. In Three Viewings, award-winning playwright Jeffrey Hatcher explores love, money, and loss in a trio of mordantly witty narratives. In a small-town funeral parlor, three stories portray the extent to which we all hold on to memories, money, life, and love.

With a simple comment about the waiter's attire, the newlyweds find themselves caught in a web of secrets. The waiter, driven by dreams of a better life for his family, becomes the prime suspect in a shocking murder that shakes the foundations of their idyllic honeymoon. As Sandie and her new husband navigate the treacherous currents of romance, jealousy, and deceit, they are determined to uncover the truth behind the tragic death of the handsome restaurant manager. With the waiter's fingerprints on the murder weapon, the odds are stacked against him, and time is running out.

When asked to be the keynote speaker at a writer's conference, Sandie is both delighted and terrified. Public speaking just isn't her forte. But a few days at a swanky resort in Playa del Carmen, with her fiancé by her side? Sounds too good to pass up. Until Sandie's good friend and conference organizer is found dead. As the local police, resort staff, and dozens of guests try to wrap their minds around this tragic event, a likely suspect emerges, but pinning him down as the murderer won't be easy.

The end of the world comes home. Emily Ristler is six weeks pregnant when the beginning of the end blows up her utopian dream. Moving out to a peaceful subdivision beyond the city limits should have put her beyond the reaches of life’s insanity; a waterfront paradise to start a family. But with Cole caught in the heart of the city during a mysterious phenomenon that has devolved man into a primal predator with a single urge - Kill! - Emily must hold the home front until he returns.

Eve Gold's birthdays are killers, and her 27th birthday proves to be no different. But for the up-and-coming Vancouver artist, facing death isn't the real shock - it's what comes after. Recovering from a near-fatal accident, Eve is determined to return to the life she's always wanted: a successful artistic career, marriage to the man who once broke her heart, and another chance at motherhood. But brain damage leaves her forgetful, confused, and tortured by repressed memories of a deeply troubled childhood, where her innocence was stolen one lie - and one suspicious death - at a time.

In the small village of Curon in South Tyrol, 17-year-old Trina longs for a different life. She dedicates herself to becoming a teacher, but the year that she qualifies - 1923 - Mussolini's regime abolishes the use of German as a teaching language in the annexed Austrian territory. Defying their ruthless program of forced Italianization, Trina works for a clandestine network of schools in the valley, always with the risk of capture.

Music means more than anything to high school student Cate Reese; it's also what unites her with Cal Woods. Devoted classical guitar players, Cate and Cal are childhood friends newly smitten by love - until a devastating car accident rips Cal out of Cate's life forever. Blaming herself for the horrific tragedy and struggling to surface from her despair, Cate spirals downhill in a desperate attempt to ease her pain.

More and more people - especially millennials - are turning to religion as a source of comfort and solace in our increasingly chaotic world. But rather than live a cloistered life of seclusion, the Daughters of Saint Paul actively embrace social media, using platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to evangelize, collectively calling themselves the #MediaNuns. In this collective memoir, eight of these Sisters share their own discernment journeys, struggles and crises of faith that they’ve overcome, and episodes from their daily lives.

Not much can happen in 24 hours - unless you’ve just met your soulmate…He is drop-dead gorgeous - a superhero on the big screen. I’m simply a writer - who lost her mojo, and just missed her flight. Worst day of my life. Or so I thought....Because being stuck with Noah for 24 hours was extraordinary. He made me laugh. Made me want. Fired me up. Inspired me. And it was so much more than that. He was so much more than that. In 24 hours, I not only found my muse. I fell in love....

The long night is upon them. After five years of hard work, dedication, and too many sacrifices, Lara thought she had made progress in bringing what remained of humanity together in her small part of the world. She also thought they had seen the last of the ghouls as a major threat. She was wrong on both counts. An unnatural alliance between two enemies, forged in secrecy, has finally been revealed. With Keo away on a mission, the real threat is at the gates, leaving Lara, Gaby, and a city full of civilians unprepared for a long and relentless night of fighting.

Former Pinkerton spy Lily Handland has always dreamed of a quiet, safe life, free from chasing criminals and putting herself at risk. So when the opportunity to invest in a failing Great Camp in the Adirondacks comes to her attention, she quickly jumps at the chance. Filled with grief, widower Owen Murphy wants to run away from it all. Though he's worked hard to forge a future for himself, his guilt has kept him mired in the past. But all that changes when a headstrong, mysterious woman shows up at Owen's door.

Fantasy icon Jane Yolen is adored by generations of readers and listeners of all ages. Now she triumphantly returns with this inspired gathering of fractured fairy tales and legends. Yolen breaks open the classics to reveal their crystalline secrets: a philosophical bridge that misses its troll, a spinner of straw as a falsely accused moneylender, the villainous wolf adjusting poorly to retirement. Each of these offerings features a new author note and original poem, illuminating tales that are old, new, and brilliantly refined.

When college student Emery Driscoll is blackmailed into being a courier for a clandestine organization, she's cut off from the neural implant community which binds the domed city of New Worth together. Her new employers exploit her rare condition which allows her to carry encoded data in her blood and train her to transport secrets throughout the troubled city. New Worth is on the brink of Emergence - freedom from the dome - but not everyone wants to leave. Then a data drop goes bad, and Emery is caught between factions: those who want her blood, and those who just want her dead.

When their hopes for ending Moquoia's brutal system of bondage are crushed, unlikely allies Lark and Veran are forced to flee into the harsh desert. With no weapons or horses, they must make their way to safety across the 50-mile expanse of waterless plains known as the water scrape. It is an odyssey filled with unexpected dangers that challenge even a skilled outlaw like Lark - though the farther they travel, the more she wonders if she even fits the fearsome title of the Sunshield Bandit anymore.

In a future United States where those who control technology control the wealth, 17-year-old Marguerite's viral video propels a populist candidate to presidential victory on a platform of "tech for all". But as the mouthpiece of the new leader determined to break the elite stronghold, Marguerite finds herself on the opposite side of the divide in a new high school full of technocrat teens. When the enigmatic Percy, with his flamboyant fashion sense, sharp wit, and tragic past, takes an interest in her, she is suspicious.